


The Pensive

by IvyNyx



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Child Abuse, Gen, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-23 03:36:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11981301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvyNyx/pseuds/IvyNyx
Summary: Side story of Hogwarts of the Lost. Memories from the core four of their lives on the Isle. No relationships, just four torture/abuse scenes.





	The Pensive

**Author's Note:**

> These are not necessarily the worst thing the kids endured objectively. These are what they individually consider to be their worst memory of their childhood.
> 
> This is chapter 7.5 of "Hogwarts of the Lost" but it can be read as a stand alone.

Snape found himself standing in a dark dank hallway. In front of him was a woman he vaguely remembered from his childhood stories. A very small girl with violet hair stood in front of her looking into an open closet door.  
“Come along now Mal, we can't have any weakness left over from your rotten father,” Maleficent said.

As Snape watched Mal took a step into the closet, then another.  
“Oh get on with it girl!” Her mother said shoving her forward and slamming the door shut, before leaning on it. “You'd think by now you'd have toughened up! Twelve fucking times we've done this!”  
Instantly he heard Mal start screaming and banging on the door. It was hard to decipher anything through her frantic tears but finally, the word spider was very clear.

“Of course there are spiders in there you nit-wit! What do you think, you are growing up in Auradon? You may as well get used to them because they will be your only company for a while” Maleficent said before taking off her shoe and jamming it under the door. She stood to watch for a moment to make sure it would hold and then walked away leaving her daughter alone in a closet that was presumably full of spiders.

Snape listened for what felt like hours as Mal's voice faded, he was unsure if she was losing it or just giving up. The banging on the door had stopped so he had to assume she was giving up. As he watched the shoe lodging the door shut slid out followed by a flash of a coat hanger. Ever so slowly Mal slid the door open, looking for her mother before slipping out and going to her room. Snape peeked into the closet, seeing multiple spider webs, birthing sacs, and live spiders. With a feeling of disgust, he followed her and watched and the small child sit with broken crayons and junk mail to draw. He expected a lot of things, but a purple dragon using green flames to burning a horde of spiders wasn't on the list. He watched her scrawl her name and 'age 3' at the bottom.

“Mal Bertha!” Snape heard a woman shriek, Mal instantly dove under her bed not even bothering to hide her artwork or supplies. The door to the bedroom banged open, “I know you're in here! Don't think those tricks Jafar's brat taught you will save you. You will get over this stupid fear” maleficent pulled open the closet and looked behind the curtains before crouching to look under the bed.  
“What have we here, a teensy weensy spider?” Maleficent chuckled while reaching out to grab a handful of Mal's hair. Snape watched as the girl was dragged from her room back to the closet by her hair. Maleficent threw her in, her body thudding against the back wall, before Maleficent slammed the door shut.  
“Let's see if Jafar's brat taught you how to get out of this one!” she cackled before taking three nails and hammering them into the door sealing it shut.

Mal didn't even scream this time. Snape stepped through the door, silently grateful he knew the spiders couldn't affect him. Inside he saw Mal sitting on the floor her eyes glowing green, she was using an old shoe to crush any spiders that invaded her little circle of light. Snape tried to judge how long passed like that but it was difficult, it felt like nearly a day when the door finally opened. Mal's eyes had long since stopped glowing, he wasn't sure if she felt she had killed all the spiders or simply didn't care anymore. 

“Are you prepared to act like the prodigy I know you are?” Maleficent asked. Mal nodded sharply still sitting inside the closet. “Fine, you may come out. I hope we won't need to repeat this process for any other pointless fears, you are my daughter, there is nothing on earth worthy of your fear!”  
“Yes, mother” Mal parroted softly before the room went dark, signaling the next memory was about to begin.

Snape stood in a room that reminded him much of his study at Hogwarts, gray stones made up the whole room. Pastel pink and blue curtains and rugs softened the room, in the corner a small bed was made up in the same colors. Against one wall was a vanity overflowing with makeup, in front of the mirror sat a young girl. Snape would guess she was around eleven or twelve, old enough for Hogwarts. Behind her stood the Evil Queen, Snape chuckled, time had not been kind to the once wicked witch.

“Why are you standing there mother? I've been doing my own makeup for years” Evie said  
“Don't worry about me. Just apply your make up” Evil Queen told her daughter.  
Evie did as her mother asked. Evil Queen didn't move for a while until Evie picked up her eyeliner. As the pen touched her eyelid Evil Queen shook her shoulder causing the black ink to streak across her cheek.  
“Mother!” Evie cried indignantly.  
“You should be able to apply makeup no matter what. When you have a child they will take no heed to your routine” Evil Queen said while Evie wiped off the stray marks. This continued for quite some time, at first Evil Queen just shoved Evie at random intervals, then she started throwing things. As Snape watched Evie used the mirror to avoid the thrown items while finishing what Snape felt was an overly complex routine.

“I'm done mother,” Evie said reaching to shut off the mirror light and ensuring all her make up was closed.  
“Passable I suppose, now wipe it off. I have a test for you. Meet me out back when you're ready” Evil Queen said before sweeping from the room.  
Evie reached out to flip her light back on and proceeded to take off all the makeup she's just painstakingly applied. Snape watched her work in silence, mildly impressed, anyone else he could think of her age would have at least muttered under their breath. Once she was finished she walked out to the yard. In the back, there was an old play house, Evil Queen standing next to it.

“You are expected to look your best at all times, even when unexpected things occur. Inside I have placed some of your makeup, go inside and apply it, come out when you're done”  
Snape watched Evie walk inside and followed her, crouching to fit in the small building. True to her word there was a table with a pile of makeup on it. Evie quickly sorted it out and began applying it. Snape heard a liquid being poured outside and ignored it. Then he heard the unmistakable sound of a muggle lighter and began to smell smoke. Evie noticed it too, her head whipping around to find the source. The corner opposite them clearly had flames dancing on the outside of it, the light flickering between the cracks in the old planks.  
“Crazy fucking harpy” Evie muttered before focusing back on her makeup  
Snape stared, Evie was actually going to sit in a burning building to apply makeup. As the flames spread the smoke began to fill the small room. Evie kept stopping to cough, finally when Severus was sure the roof was going to collapse Evie stood up and walked out of the play house. She didn't rush or hurry, just walked out as if nothing in the world was wrong.

“I'm done mother, the playhouse seems to be having a slight issue though,” Evie said as if stating the grass was green. There were no emotions in her voice at all.  
“It's for the best you'd outgrown it anyway. I am pleased to see you succeeded” Evil Queen said before sweeping back into the house.  
“Yeah, heaven forbid you maimed another kid” Evie muttered as the area went black and Snape was once again in limbo between memories.

This time Severus found himself standing in a room full of junk, it instantly reminded him of the Room of Missing things. Piles of trinkets, televisions and broken chairs littered the floor, a small path carving through it all. Under a flimsy looking shelf that was loaded with televisions sat Jay, he didn't look to be much older than Mal had been, perhaps five. Next to him sat a small glowing stuffed worm, Severus almost laughed, they had been quite the popular muggle toy serving as both a lovey and a night light for children. This one was particularly worn, the Descendants telling him they got garbage made him wonder just how old that toy was.

“I told you to put that light out! I am not paying to light up a room while you sleep.” a male voice rang out from a back room.  
“The light is out Baba”  
“I can see a light on Jay,” Jafar said walking into the room. Severus had to laugh, the old Vizier was much less terrifying in an undershirt and tighty-no-longer-whities.  
“It's a toy, I traded Mal for it,” Jay said holding the worm up so his father could see.  
“And what of my goods did you give that brat for it,” Jafar asked.  
“Nothing, I taught her something,” Jay told him.  
“Regardless, shut the damn light off. You're too old for this cringing in the dark crap. We're the villains we embrace the dark!” Jafar said. Severus listened to him rant all the way back to his room about how Jay should love the dark not fear it.  
Severus watched Jay tuck the worm under some blankets so it was just barely visible before curling up himself. It took Severus a moment to realize that pile of rugs and tattered blankets was Jay's bed and not just a place the child decided to sit.

Twenty minutes passed, according to a clock on the wall when Jafar walked in, the worm still glowing softly under the blanket.  
“Jayden! I told you to shut that light off!” Jafar demanded, reaching out for the toy. Jay's fingers were curled around it as he startled awake. Snape noticed the boy's wrist was rubbed raw and thought back to the scar he knew was around Jay's wrist, making a mental note to ask about it.  
“If you want to have a light on like some Auradon brat, I'll give you a damn light” Jafar muttered having successfully wrenched the toy from Jay's grasp. He stomped around the room grabbing a cauldron and a lighter before sitting them in an empty space. Jay seemed to know better than to bother protesting as Jafar threw the worm in the cauldron and lit it on fire, the smell of burning rubber filled the air. 

Satisfied that the toy wouldn't make any more light Jafar walked back out of the room, the cauldron still smoldering. On the makeshift bed, Jay had pulled his knees up to his chest and was crying silently. Surprisingly Snape found that more heartbreaking the earsplitting ruckus Mal had made. A loud child wanted attention, the silent ones though had given up on even trying to have someone comfort them, Severus could remember many nights crying silently in his own room. Finally, Jay got out of the bed and moved around. His motions were erratic, often stopping to listen, or stare at something that wasn't there. Severus couldn't figure out what he was doing until a beam of moonlight fell across the bed. He'd shifted reflective items around to redirect the only light he could to his bed, Severus watched him crawl back into the bed and huddle against the wall, the light didn't seem to do much to actually calm him.

The room went black, surprising Severus, he expected more to the memory. He made another mental note to see if the other boy had overcome his fear of the dark.

 

Snape found himself standing in a torture chamber, there were no other words for it. There were chains on the walls, and what he was fairly sure was blood on the floor. Voldemort would have found this room to be quite comfortable. The only source of light was a large pillar candle next to a table, on that table Carlos was strapped down. Severus felt sick, he wasn't a fan of torture as a death eater, often aiming to kill straight off. Clearly, he was about to witness something awful. The boy was young, maybe six, Severus found himself wishing the others had come with him if only to share such details.

With a bang, Cruella walked into the dungeon.  
“My disappointment” she sneered, looking at the boy, for the first time Severus wondered if he was asleep or unconscious. She walked over to a chest on the far wall and pulled it open, Severus watched her walk back to the table with a small box. From inside she drew out a silk pin and a pair of pliers. He watched as she held the rounded end of the pin into the candle flame until it was blackened, as soon as she took it from the flame she pressed it into the skin of her son's forehead. Carlos jerked but didn't make a sound, his eyes screwed shut tighter. As Severus stared at the boy a startling realization hit, this Carlos didn't have any freckles. As Cruella repeated her process with the pin he realized what he'd assumed were freckles were actually tiny burn scars. He prided himself on having an iron constitution, having watched countless muggles tortured until the dark lord tired of them. At the moment though he felt as if he'd managed to swallow a chocolate frog whole.

Most of Carlos's forehead was covered in angry red marks, some bleeding. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, causing Severus's stomach to churn again. Finally, the boy let out a whimper.  
“Oh come now, surely it doesn't hurt,” Cruella said as if trying to make him eat a vegetable.  
“N-No, mother” he muttered, his lips tinting brighter red as the motion caused the spot he'd been biting to split open.  
Severus watched as she continued her sick work, the whole time a small smile on her face. He knew then Carlos had more mental instabilities than he could dream of, both genetic and from how he was raised. Finally, she decided she was done, she stood and put the needle away before unstrapping Carlos from the table.   
“I expect next time you'll remember all of your chores,” she said, Carlos just nodded before fleeing the room causing the memory to end and Severus to be dropped back into his office.


End file.
